Archives for March 2010

Meet Your Walt Disney World Moms Panel – Diane L

31 March 2010 by Suzannah Otis 5 Comments

We are now at our fourth week of the Meet Your Walt Disney World Moms Panel series on ZannaLand. These informal interviews are meant to be a jumping off point from the bios that appear on the DisneyWorldMoms.com site where you can learn about every panelist’s background and experience with Walt Disney World, and see their personal videos as well. Once you check them out there, you can get to know the panelists a little better here!

Today we meet a mom who started on the panel in 2009, Diane L. I remember Diane being another one of the first moms I found on twitter and I was lucky enough to spend some time with her during the 2010 panel’s training since she was one of the 2009 moms there to help us out. She, along with Kay and Karen, made us all feel so welcome during that training session and they all had some great stories to share.

…

The Thanks For Reading ZannaLand Giveaway!

30 March 2010 by Suzannah Otis 76 Comments

Those of you on my personal facebook page may have noticed my update about the milestone my little corner of the internet is about to reach. When I posted it, I thought I’d just say it there, and move on, not making a big deal about it. The more I thought about it all day, the more I realized I should be celebrating this achievement. After all, this site is devoted to Disney, and who does celebrations better than Disney, right? Also, the whole reason this milestone is happening is because of you, the readers, so I figured I should definitely be giving back to the very people that brought me here to begin with. So are you ready to celebrate??

There are 2 days left in March, including today – ZannaLand.com is really really close to getting 10,000 page views for the month of March. I’m so amazed by this – I remember when I started I was excited that the site had 10 views a day. Certainly a LOT has happened both on the site and in my life since that time, and I am so grateful for the exciting changes that have taken place.

I would not be here without the wonderful community of readers about which I’m always raving, and although I may not have the budget of Disney, what I’d do in real life is take you out for a coffee and thank you. Since for most readers, I can’t do that without involving airlines and lots of miles, I thought I’d give away 3 gift cards {of various mystery amounts} for a coffee on me {or tea or whatever else you might like to drink at Starbucks}.

In addition, I’m giving away a couple of fun surprises – 2 unopened Vinylmation figures! So that’s 5 separate chances to win. However, we have to reach that goal first – which means I need your help getting the word out about this giveaway!

To enter the giveaway:

Comment on this entry.

If you want some extra entries you can also:

Tweet about this giveaway and comment here with the url of that tweet.
Post on facebook or anywhere else you’d like to spread the word and let me know here!

I will then add all the entries into random.org and pick the winners there. I can’t wait to see who wins!

Disclosure: I am providing these prizes out-of-pocket and am not being sponsored by Starbucks, Walt Disney World or anyone else for this giveaway. Each comment meeting the above guidelines will be entered to win one of five prizes. Contest ends at midnight PST on March 31st and winners will be announced on April 1st. Good luck! 🙂

…

UPDATE: If you did not read on twitter, we surpassed 10,000 views after midnight on March 30th, so we definitely hit our goal and then some by the 31st! Thanks so much!! The winners have been picked at random.org:

$5 Starbucks gift card goes to – Jacqueline Hudson!

$10 Starbucks gift card goes to – icitea!

$15 Starbucks gift card goes to – Stephanie (VertigoDawn)!

1st Vinylmation goes to –Vader’s Mom!!

2nd Vinylmation goes to – Jon (disneylovndad)!!

Congratulations! I will get your prizes mailed out as soon as possible!

Thank you ALL for the amazing participation, for reading, and for spreading the word about ZannaLand. I promise this will not be the last fun giveaway!!

Sunday Readin’ March 28 2010

28 March 2010 by Suzannah Otis 1 Comment

Tip-toeing quietly in the footsteps of my friends on MainStGazette, ImagiNERDing, and TheDisneyFoodBlog, I’m pleased to bring you my version of a weekend wrap-up of Disney posts that caught my eye. I hope you enjoy the items as much as I did and as always, feel free to tell me your favorites from this week in the comments.

AJ from The Disney Food Blog confirms what we were all hoping for: The Wishes Dessert Party Returns March 28th!

Ryan shows us how things have changed in Epcot since 1984 and the Kodak Picture Spots shown on the park’s guidemap – as they look today – on the Main Street Gazette. While you’re there, check out his coverage of the directional signs of Animal Kingdom’s Asia.

Our pal Lou Mongello of WDW Radio tempts us all as he tours the snacks of Disney’s Hollywood Studios in search of the park’s best snack. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!

On Yesterland, Werner Weiss discusses the urban legend of the Swan and Dolphin hotels being reversed – with some really cool photos in the piece. I loved this article since our wedding reception was held at the Dolphin (14 years ago this October eep!) these resorts have always held a special place in my Disney history.

And finally, in light of the recent announcement from Disney Parks unveiling their Premier Passport which covers admission to both Walt Disney World and Disneyland, Scott from DisneyBiz calculates exactly when this annual pass pays for itself in terms of park visits.

Happy reading and see you next week in ZannaLand!

DVC 101: The Ins, Outs, Ups and Downs of Discovering Disney’s Best Kept Secret

25 March 2010 by Suzannah Otis 12 Comments

You know the old saying “write what you know” – well I can write about Disney till the cows come home, but there are some things I just know are better left to the experts. I thought it was time to bring in some of those experts and let them share their knowledge on subjects to which I might not otherwise do justice. In this case, I asked a wonderful twitter friend who goes by the handle KidaniKatie {aka Katie Siloac} to give our readers a rundown of DVC 101. I knew Katie was a DVC member (her username may have given that away) and I loved her site TheDVCLife.com so I thought it was a perfect place to start.

I know my family and I have wanted to become Disney Vacation Club members since its inception, way back when Old Key West was simply called Disney’s Vacation Club Resort and was the only option to buy into. It’s just not been in the cards for us to purchase, although we almost took the plunge a few years back when we did the tour and presentation when Kidani Village was being built. We still hope to be members some day soon, especially with our family of five (six when my mom comes with us) it would make perfect sense. But – is it really right for us? Is it right for you? What exactly do all the points and home resorts and…well, I should really just let Katie tell you. Please give her a warm welcome and just maybe she’ll come back and tell us other fun stuff about Disney!!

Meet Your Walt Disney World Moms Panel – Kaylene J

24 March 2010 by Suzannah Otis 5 Comments

Week 3 of our Meet Your Walt Disney World Moms Panel series brings us to another 2010 panelist – Kaylene J. I first “met” Kaylene as we all were awaiting news on the DIS Boards about who moved on to round 2 during the application process. I instantly felt a connection with her because she was from Massachusetts, where I’d grown up and considered “home” (outside of Disney of course!). I was following her story closely because I knew she’d made it to the final round the year before but not made the panel, so we all thought she was a shoe-in for this year. Thankfully, we were all right! 😉 Please enjoy getting to know Kaylene in her own words below.

Next week I’ll start mixing it up and featuring panelists from the 2009 and 2008 panel as well as the 2010 panelists, so stay tuned!

…

The Disney Community – The Magic is in YOU!

23 March 2010 by Suzannah Otis 17 Comments

Faithful readers may have noticed a gap in updates here in ZannaLand. Never fear – I have lots of fun stuff lined up. I’ve just been working on some behind-the-scenes (or backstage to use a Disney term) things on the site and trying to make it better organized for visitors that may be looking for specific posts or planning help. In addition (outside of running after my 3 kids), I’ve been working on another page within the site to list some other places to get your Disney fix online. Basically a blog roll, as is very common on other sites – however I really want to make this a lot more than just a listing of links. And here’s why…{you knew there had to be a story in here right?}

I know I’ve talked a bit in the past on here about the how and why of wanting to write about Disney. To go into a little more detail, it was really because of twitter and the amazing Disney community that lives there. A year ago, I was just a fan connecting with other Disney fans on twitter and discovering that there existed so many sites and blogs about Disney. When the thought occurred to me to change the focus of my blog here to one about Walt Disney World, the support was overwhelming. I never heard a “oh, don’t bother, there are 10,000+ Disney sites out there!” or “it’s already been done, what could you possibly bring to the table?” even though those were exactly the doubts I was having. Quite the contrary, I received cheers and open arms waiting to help. And trust me – I asked for help – a LOT.

Disney Podcasts 101 – All You Need to Know About Great Disney Podcasts!

18 March 2010 by Suzannah Otis 4 Comments

Many of you found me on this site through twitter and shared in my journey to the Walt Disney World Moms Panel last year. During that process, I shared quite a bit about my Disney background and experiences. I am and always have been confident in my knowledge of Disney history and even a bit of trivia, and my desire to share that history is really what gave me the push to write about Disney here. That said – I am the FIRST to admit that I do not know it all. More than that, there are some areas of Disney fandom that I am just completely clueless about! Luckily, one of the side-effects of Disney obsession is an incessant desire to LEARN MORE about the parks, resorts, attractions, history, behind-the-scenes info – any and everything!

Being a Florida resident for the better part of the last 15 years and a cast member a few times, my knowledge was gained just by going to the parks and experiencing all the changes and history – as it happened. I realized during the Moms Panel application process that there is a whole other world of Disney fans out there who have completely different skill sets regarding our favorite place.

Meet Your Walt Disney World Moms Panel – Maribel Z

17 March 2010 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

We are now at week two of the Meet Your Moms Panelist series. Last week we got to know Walt Disney World Moms Panelist Kathie Flood and now we continue with another 2010 panelist. We’ll be meeting a new 2010, 2009, or 2008 panelist each week, so be sure to comment and say hello!

The Magic Of Disneyland and Walt Disney World by Valerie Childs 1979

11 March 2010 by Suzannah Otis 13 Comments

I can’t remember when I was given The Magic of Disneyland and Walt Disney World by Valerie Childs, but it must’ve been a year or so after it was published in 1979. I know we’d already taken our trip to Walt Disney World when I was around 6, but it was before we’d stayed at the Lake Buena Vista Vacation Villas. A friend of the family gave me this book, and it was pretty much my bible for the next few years. {I’d later graduate to reading the Birnbaum guides and my WDW Pictorial Souvenir books which I’d get every trip – I’ll scan some of those in soon.}

When I held the book in my hands, my first thought was how lucky Valerie Childs must be, and how much I wanted to be her when I grew up. This hardcover book was over-sized like a coffee table book and the full-color pictures were just beautiful. Our friend had also somehow gotten a few Mickey Mouse balloons {not inflated} and stuck them in the middle of the book, where there was a double-paged picture of the very same balloons. It was like a magical surprise every time I turned to that page.

The Magic of Disneland and Walt Disney World cover — I would stare at this cover wanting to BE that lady.

The Magic of Disneyland and Walt Disney World back cover — And I would stare at this back cover for ages looking at all the individual people.

I loved this book because it focused on Disneyland as well as Walt Disney World. I would take note of the differences between the two places; from the font of Land vs. World {not that I knew what a font was back then} to the rides locations of the rides. I’d never been to Disneyland {still haven’t, must remedy this!} so seeing pictures of the pirate ship or Storybook Land or the Matterhorn were like seeing snapshots of a foreign country I wanted to explore. Seeing the attractions and places I’d been to in Walt Disney World was like seeing pictures of “home”.

Now, looking at the book for the first time in quite a while and 31 years after it was published, it’s like a magical time capsule full of history. I would love to get all of the pages scanned in, but I’d have to find some industrial sized-scanner to get them all in. In the meantime, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite pages with you and we could stroll down memory lane together. For those that did not visit the parks during this time, it’ll be fun to see how things started out.

The Magic of Disneyland and Walt Disney World — The original Main Street Electrical Parade

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. I looked for the book online and it does appear to be on ebay. It really is one of my treasured collectibles both for the pictures it contains and the memories it brought me as a child. Do you have a favorite book in your Disney collection?